The 'Bridges of Solidarity' Project in Northern California to Support Iranian Freedom Struggles

The presence of a number of Iranians on the major bridges in cities like Sacramento, San Francisco, and Berkeley has recently caught the attention of vehicles, citizens, and media in Northern California. This group of Iranians, holding flags, slogans, and images related to the recent nationwide protests in Iran, is declaring their support for the protesters in Iran. This project, named 'Bridges of Solidarity,' was formed by a number of Iranian volunteers in Northern California following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police and the beginning of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement in Iran. Vahid Zamani, an Iranian artist and one of the members of this project, shares various video clips of these events on social media, leveraging his expertise in film and photography. Mr. Zamani tells Voice of America: 'Our goal from the beginning of this project was to raise awareness among non-Iranians about the events inside Iran. We go to busy bridges holding banners with slogans like 'Women, Life, Freedom' or 'Stop the Death Penalty,' and portraits of political prisoners on heavily trafficked bridges.' He adds, 'Based on the statistics we gathered, about 30,000 vehicles pass by each hour we are on a bridge, and they see our slogans and images about Iran.' Vahid Zamani emphasizes that he and his friends aim to expand this project to other cities in the U.S. and hope that one day such actions will take place on the large and famous bridges of other countries as well. According to this Iranian artist, the Bridges of Solidarity project has so far been implemented in five cities: Sacramento, Davis, San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Jose, and the group members are working to hold similar programs in Southern California and other states in the U.S. Vahid Zamani insists that the simultaneous execution of such a project on bridges in various cities around the world will undoubtedly attract media attention and will be impactful in supporting the freedom movement of Iranians inside Iran. He adds, 'This project was initially formed in collaboration with small local groups in different cities in Northern California that have protested since the beginning of the Women, Life, Freedom movement in their cities or have been active on issues related to Iran.' Vahid Zamani reminds that all members participate in these activities completely voluntarily, and their only goal is to support the freedom struggles inside Iran.